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Sharpening with a Hard Felt Wheel

There has probably been as much discussion of sharpening methods on the OldTools list as there has been of almost any other subject. I strongly disagree with those methods which require a large investment in time and/or money.

I have developed a sharpening method that is quick, easy, and cheap. I really believe that if you try this method you will never go back to the old ways.

I use a grinding wheel on a bench grinder, a diamond plate, and a hard felt wheel. The picture story follows.

With the grinder off, and the tool resting on the tool rest, look at the side of the grinding wheel and locate the position that you want to grind the bevel at.

If you are not experienced at grinding tools you should mark a square line on the back of the chisel to guide you. 

I use a friable grinding wheel for my edge tools. These are usually white, but I have seen pink ones.

Grasp the tool between your thumb and forefinger as shown above. The forefinger rests against the bottom of the tool rest. Once you begin grinding, never remove your finger from the tool.

Move the tool from side to side as necessary for a nice bevel all the way across the edge.

Even when you cool the tool away from the grinder do not remove the finger from its position on the tool. This is how you go back to the wheel and maintain the angle you started with.

When you have obtained the bevel you want, it is time to hone the edge.

I use a fine grit 3” by 8” diamond covered plate which I bought from Rockler about 8 years ago. It cost about $65 but it is the very best sharpening tool I ever bought. Even with much use it is still going strong.  You can use any stone you have provided that it is flat.

This is what you are looking for. The edge is sharpened all the way across, and the edge is nice and straight. The hollow grind shows you exactly where you are, and you can see when you have the correct result.

The backs on all my tools were flattened long ago, so I did not get into doing that here. I will put up another tutorial on flattening the backs of edge tools.

When the tool has been sharpened this much, you can feel a definite wire edge on the flat side.

Now it is time to go to the felt wheel. While the wheel is turning I apply some compound to the surface. Just a little. Green compound works just fine. Then I polish the cutting edge.

CAUTION! The wheel must turn away from you! If you try this with the wheel turning the normal way, you are in for an unpleasant surprise.

There is a slight learning curve to polishing the edge. Start with the bevel in a position where you know the edge will not touch. Slowly draw the tool closer to you until you can tell that the edge is just barely being polished. This is delicate work, so do not get in a hurry here.

Remove the tool from the wheel every few seconds and look at it. The cutting edge should be getting polished to a mirror finish, and the wire edge should disappear.

To see if the edge is sharp enough to suit me I try it on the hair of my arm. If it shaves the hair, it is sharp enough. Tools don’t get much sharper than this.

I timed myself doing this chisel and less than 2 minutes elapsed from start to finish.

December, 2005